new appointments

1. Amol Rajan appointed as Independent editor.

2. Bobby Ghosh is Time International editor.

3. Kamala Devi Harris is an American attorney.

4. Senate approves James Comey as new FBI director.

5. Susan Rice named as Obama's new National Security Advisor.

6. Haryana cadre IPS Sharad Kumar to be new NIA chief.

7. Shashi Kant Sharma, an IAS officer of the 1976 batch from Bihar cadre----------- CAG of India .

8. P. Sathasivam takes oath as new Chief Justice of India

9. World Trade Organization names Brazilian as new chief---------Roberto Carvalho de Azevedo.

10. Antigua's Ambassador to the United Nations, John Ashe, has been elected President of the United Nations General Assembly.

11. Obama Names Veteran Troubleshooter to Afghanistan-Pakistan Post-----------James F. Dobbins.

12. Siddha Ramaiah sworn in as new Karnataka chief minister ------- 22nd .

13. Indian High Commissioner to Maldives Rajeev Shahare.

14. Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

15. Priyadarshini Govind appointed director of Kalakshetra.

16. Sunil Soni appointed Director General of Bureau of Indian Standards.

17. Hemant Soren becomes Jharkhand CM, heads 9th government in 13 years.

18. Jiji Thomson. Director General, SAI.

19. NRI Sunil Chopra elected as the Deputy Mayor of a London Borough.

20. Kushal Singh appointed as NCPCR chairperson---National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

21. Laxman Singh Rathore, the Director General of Meteorology & Permanent Representative of India with World Meteorological Organization.

22. Subhash Kumar appointed as the New Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand.

23. Krishnakumar Natarajan------------------ NASSCOM Chairman

24.Som Mittal-------------------------- NASSCOM President

25. Dr Manmohan Singh appoints Rentala Chandrasekhar as NTRO chief---National Technical Research Organisation.

26. Senior IPS officer Krishna Chaudhary --------- Director General, National Disaster Response Force and Civil Defence.

27. New chief of Direct Benefits Transfer Scheme--------- S Sundareshan.

28. Qatar's new young emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

29. N. R. Narayana Murthy----------------------(Executive Chairman) Infosys

30. S. D. Shibulal--------------------------------(CEO & MD) Infosys

31. S. Gopalakrishnan-(Executive Vice Chairman, former Co-Chairman) Infosys

32. K. Vaman Kamath is the Lead Independent Director of Infosys Limited , Infosys

33. E.K. Bharat Bhushan has been appointed as the Chief Secretary of Kerala.

34. Hindustan Times has appointed Nicholas Dawes, editor-in-chief of Mail and Guardian (M&G), a leading South African paper.

35. Tomas Brunegård, chairman of Sweden’s Stampen Media Group, is the new president of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers.

36. Foreign Minister of Argentina Mr. Hector Marcos.

37. Pak Pong-ju served as the Premier of North Korea since elected by the DPRK's Supreme People's Assembly.

38. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the 25th and current Prime Minister of Turkey.

39. Hassan Rohani is Iran's president.

40. Foreign Minister of Cuba Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla..

41. Gold miner AngloGold Ashanti has appointed Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan as chief executive officer.

42. Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak is a Malaysian politician who has been the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

43. Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj is the 4th and current President of Mongolia.

44. Amisha Sethi appointed chief commercial officer at AirAsia India .

45. AirAsia's chief executive officer Tony Fernandes .

46. AirAsia India CEO Mittu Chandilya.

47. AirAsia India appoints TCS' S Ramadorai as Chairman.

48. Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata will be the chief advisor to the board of AirAsia India.

49. AirAsia has been named the World's Best and Asia's Best Low Cost Airline .

50. Tony Fernandes announced as new owner of Queens Park Rangers.

51. Cabinet Secretary--------------------- Shri Ajit Kumar Seth .

52. Union home secretary---------------- Anil Goswami .

53. Secretary of Defense---------------- R K Mathur .

54. Foreign Secretary------------------- Sujatha Singh.

55. Union finance secretary ------------- Rajiv Takru .

56. Economic Affairs Secretary---------- Arvind Mayaram .

57. Information and broadcasting (I&B) secretary--------Bimal Julka

58. Secretary of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)------M F Farooqui

59. PML-N leader Ayaz Sadiq elected Speaker of Pak Parliament.

60. Moin Khan, the former Pakistan captain and wicketkeeper, has been appointed the chief selector of the Pakistan national cricket team.

61. Najam Sethi named PCB's interim chairman.

62. Kanji Ram became only the second Hindu to be part of the Pakistan's Punjab assembly after Seth Bharta Ram.

63. Pakistan High Commissioner in India---------Salman Bashir .

64. Raja Zafrul Haq---------chairman of PML-N.

65. TCA Raghavan is India's new envoy to Pakistan.

66. Arunachal Pradesh--- Nirbhay Sharma – 29 May 2013

67. Bihar-------------------------- D. Y. Patil – 9 March 2013

68. Kerala-----------------------Nikhil Kumar 9 March 2013

69. Meghalaya---------------------------K. K. Paul – 1 July 2013

70. Nagaland--------------- Ashwani Kumar – 9 March 2013

71. Odisha----------------- S. C. Jamir 9 March 2013

72. Sikkim------- Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil – 1 July 2013

73. Tripura----------- Devanand Konwar – 9 March 2013

74. Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lieutenant-Governor A. K. Singh – 1 July 2013

75. Delhi---- Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung – 1 July 2013

76. Puducherry------ Lieutenant-Governor Virendra Kataria – 1 July 2013

77. Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak.
78. Paraguayan president Federico Franco (Colorado Party ).
79. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro offered asylum to former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.
80. Parliamentary Speaker Abdul Hamid sworn in as Bangladesh President to replace Zillur Rahman, who died.

81. .Infosys' S Gopalakrishnan is the new CII President.

82. Secretary in Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) ---------- Amarjit Singh .

83. Axis new President – Retail Banking ----------------- Rajiv Anand

84. Shri Sunil Kumar has taken over as Managing Director, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).

85. Senior IAS officer Sudhir Bhargava was Tuesday appointed as Secretary in Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

86. Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien unanimously elected the Chairman of the prestigious Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) in Bangkok.

87. N. N. Vohra His Excellency Governor of Jammu & Kashmir & Chancellor, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University.

88. New head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission ------- Mary Jo White

89. N Ravi, Director of Kasturi and Sons Limited, publisher of "The Hindu" newspaper, has been unanimously elected President of the Editors Guild of India.

90. Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court Arjan Kumar Sikri and Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court Sharad Arvind Bobde as new judges of Supreme Court.

91. Ajay S Shriram, chairman and senior managing director of DCM Shriram Consolidated Ltd (DSCL) is president designate of CII for the year 2013-2014.

92. Ms. Rashida Manjoo (South Africa) was appointed as UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women.

93. Narendra Kumar has taken over as Managing Director of Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL).

94. Raninder Singh re-elected president of National Rifle Association of India.

95. Jeev Milkha Singh becomes Volvo India brand ambassador.

96. Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA new chairman -------------- Amarnath Sengupta .

97. The Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) Vice Chairman ------------- P. Devadas

98. Hockey India set to appoint foreign goalkeeping coach------------Greg Clarke (junior men's team coach).

99. Sania Mirza joins Indian Tennis Players Association as Vice President.

100. Chairman of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) ----- Amitava Bhattacharyya .

101. Computer Society of India elected H.R. Mohan as its Vice-President-Cum-President.

102. Sikkimese woman who captained the U.S. Army------------Former Sikkimese Chief Minister Narbahadur Bhandari’s daughter Perilla Bhandari Swartz .

103. Delhi-born Sunil Chopra elected as the Deputy Mayor of London Borough.

104. Ajay Devgn, Bangladeshi singer Runa Laila and Oscar-winning Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy have been named as SAARC Goodwill Ambassadors for HIV/AIDS.

105. Cognizant CEO Francisco D'Souza gets over $10-mn pay package.

106. Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa will run Asian football for the next two years after the Bahraini won a three-way election for the presidency of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

107. P Sathasivam to be new Chief Justice of India.

108. National President of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) --------------------------------- C. Shekhar Reddy .

109. Chief Justice for High Court of Himachal Pradesh -------- Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar .

110. Who was named ‘Philanthropist of the Year’ at the third edition of the annual Asian Awards----- Narayana Murthy .

111. Professor M Aslam has been appointed as the vice-chancellor of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) .

112. Sundar Pichai, Google senior VP of Chrome and Android.

113. Harmanpreet Kaur Named Captain of the Indian Women's Cricket team .

114. Tushar Arothe is coach of Indian women's cricket team.

115. Harvard professor Ashish Nanda is set to take over as director of IIM Ahmedabad.

116. Italian ambassador Daniele Mancini .

117. SAI (Sports Authority of India ) Director General Jiji Thomson .

118. Prahlad Joshi appointed Karnataka BJP president

119. Bhaichung Bhutia Appointed as the Chairman of the AIFF’s Technical Committee

120. Aniruddha Bahal, Editor, CobraPost

121. India’s new High Commissioner to Maldives – Rajeev Shahare

122. Justice Mukul Mudgal, former Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court

123. Julia Pearson New CIA Director

124. Indian ambassador to Egypt Navdeep Suri

125. Chairman of CII Karnataka ------------------ Soumitra Bhattacharya .

126. Dinesh K Sarraf will be the new Chairman and Managing Director of Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC)
127. Deepak Sandhu will be appointed as next Chief Information Officer.
128. Indian Weightlifting Federation president Birendra Prasad Baishya has been appointed as the chairman of the Ethics Commission of the International Weightlifting Federation in the executive board meeting of the world body in Beijing.
129. Malala Yousafzai won 2013 International Children's Peace Prize
130. Navi Pillay, UN high commissioner for human rights
131. Vice President of Afghanistan Mohammed Karim Khalili
132. Rajeev Rishi took over as the CMD of Central Bank of India
133. ZANU-PF party of President Robert Mugabe,Zimbawe
134. Rakesh Sethi took charge as Executive Director at the Union Bank of India.
135. Special Envoy of India for Sudan and South Sudan,PS Raghavan
136. Ms Runa Laila, SAARC Goodwill Ambassador for HIV/AIDS made Maiden Visit to India
137. Ali Asghar Soltanieh is Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Geneva.
138. Nishi Vasudeva was today selected to head Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), the first woman ever to head a Navranta PSU.
139. Bhartiya Mahila Bank Ltd CEO --------- Usha Anatha Subramanyam.
140. Executive Director of the Union Bank of India-------- Rakesh Sethi.
141. US ambassador to United Nations---------- Samantha Power.
142. PM’s Special Envoy to visit Japan ---------------------- Ashwani Kumar.
143. My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Actions------------ APJ Abdul Kalam.
144. Director General of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) -------------- Dilip Trivedi.
145. Retirement announced Microsoft CEO----------- Steve Ballmer.
146. UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) Goodwill Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan.
147. Chairperson of the National School of Drama Society -------- Ratan Thiyam.
148. Nepal’s new Indian ambassador----------------- Ranjit Rae.
149. Youngest member of the present Parliament ------------------ Ramya
150. Foreign Minister of Tuvalu----------------- Taukelina Finikaso.
151. Prime Minister of Bhutan-------------------- Tshering Tobgay
152. New Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court ------------------ Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana.
153. Foreign Minister of Nicaragua------------------- Samuel Santos Lopez.
154. Amitabh Bachchan joined UN Campaign The World Needs More.
155. D.Bala Venkatesh Varma appointed Ambassador to UN Conference on Disarmament.
156. First case of human to human Transmission of H7N9 Bird Flu Virus reported in China.
157. Raghuram Govind Rajan Appointed as the 23rd Governor of RBI.
158. Bhim Sain Bassi Took Charge as the 20th Delhi Police Commissioner .
159. United Bank of India: Ms. Archana Bhargav (Chairman & MD)
160. Allahabad Bank: Ms Shubhalakshmi Panse (Chairman & MD)
161. ICICI Bank: Ms.Chanda Kochhar (MD & CEO)
162. Axis Bank: Ms Shikha Sharma (MD & CEO)
163. UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has appointed a Pakistani army general, Lt Gen Maqsood Ahmed, as the Military Adviser for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.
164. L C Goyal has been appointed as the new Secretary in the ministry of Rural Development.
165. India’s IT major Wipro will enter the National Stock Exchange’s 50-share Nifty index.
166. Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corp, Steve Ballmer, announced his retirement as chief executive. Microsoft may consider Satya Nadella, India-born executive, as next Microsoft CEO.
167. V Kannan Chairman & Managing Director of Vijaya Bank.
168. Suresh N Patel as Executive Director of Oriental Bank of Commerce
169. Pumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, of South Africa, took over as the new head of the the UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women).
170. Yahoo Inc has appointed veteran technology executive and Silicon Valley investor Maynard Webb as its new chairman.
171. Syndicate Bank has appointed "Sankaran Bhaskar Iyer" as workmen employee director on the board of directors.
172. Brand ambassadors of the Indian Badminton League (IBL) ------------ Deepika Padukone and Aamir Khan.
173. Chairman of selection committee for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna award--- Billiards legend Michael Ferreira.

174. RBI Governor------------- Raghuram Govinda Rajan.

175. SEBI-------------------------U.K. Sinha

176. NABARD--------------------Prakash Bakshi

177. FICCI----------------------Naina Lal Kidwai

178. NASSCOM----------------Krishna kumar Natrajan

179. ASSOCHAM---------------Rana Kapoor

180. SBI-----------------------Pratip Chaudhary

181. IRDA----------------------T.S.Vijayan

182. World Bank----------------Jim Yong Kim

183. National Stock Exchange-----------------Chitra Ramkrishna

184. Bombay Stock Exchange------------------ Ashish Chauhan

185. CAG-------------------------------Shashi Kant Sharma

186. Chief Economic advisor and Vice President of IMF------Kaushik Bas

187. Union Finance secretary-------------Rajiv Takru

188. Union Economic secretary---------- Aravind Mayaram

189. First women MD in SBI -------------- Arundhathi Bhattacharya.

190. First women Bank CEO---------- Usha Anathasubramanian

191. Standard Chartered-------------Sandeep Das

192. National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL)---------Saji Cherian

193. Rakesh Sethi ------- Executive Director of Union Bank of India .

194. Rajeev Rishi----------------------- CMD of Central Bank of India.

195. Institute of Cost Accountants of India new president------- Suresh Chandra Mohanty.

196. New Chairman of GST Panel--------------Abdul Rahim Rather.

197. Indian Banks' Association (IBA) President-------- K R Kamath.

198. President of Asian Development Bank Board ----- Takehiko Nakao

199. S Gopalakrishnan----------- President of the industry body (CII)

200. Rajan Bharti Mittal ------------ President of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) India.

201. MRP Rao------------------- Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) in NTPC

202. CBDT chief---------------- Sudha Sharma

203. Lic Chairman ------------ S K Roy.

204. LIC MD------------- S.B. Mainak .

205. A.K. Roy -----------Chairman cum Managing Director, GIC.

206. M.V. Tanksale---------Chairman & Managing Director, Central Bank of India .

207. Sh. Sharad Kumar, IPS has joined NIA as the Director.

208. Dilip Trivedi appointed Director General of the CRPF.

209. Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana Appointed New Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court

210. Vinay Mittal appointed as Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) member

211. Suresh Chandra Mohanty Elected as the New President of ICAI

212. Arvind Sharma Re-Elected as the President of Advertising Agencies Association of India

213. Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil appointed new Governor of Sikkim

214. Sunil Soni appointed Director General of Bureau of Indian Standards

215. Anil Chait, took over as Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC)

216. Darren Lehmann appointed Coach of Australian Cricket Team

217. Susan Elizabeth Rice Appointed as the National Security Adviser to Obama

218. Avinash Chander appointed as the New chief of Defence Research Development Organiastion(DRDO)

219. Kushal Singh Appointed as the Chairperson of NCPCR

220. Laxman Singh Rathore Elected as the Member of Executive Council of WMO

221. Brazil's Roberto Azevedo appointed Head of World Trade Organization

222. Staffan de Mistura appointed as Italian Special Envoy to India in Marines Case

223. Subhash Kumar appointed as the New Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand.

224. Ramsar Convention appointed Dr. Christopher Briggs as its new Secretary General.

225. Subhash Kumar appointed as the New Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand

226. Giorgio Napolitano Re-elected as the President of Italy to serve a Second Term

227. Aruna Bahuguna became First Women Special DG of CRPF

228. H.R. Mohan elected as the New Vice President of Computer Society

229. Sunil Kumar Took Over as the Managing Director of CRIS

230. Uhuru Kenyatta Sworn-In as the President of Kenya.

231. Narendra Kumar Verma appointed Director for Exploration of ONGC

232. United Nation (UN) Women chief ---------------- Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka

233. New High Commissioner of Singapore to India------------- Lim Thuan Kuan.

234. Depty Head of UN Mission in Mali ----------------- Abdoulaye Bathily.

235. President of Mali ----------------- Ibrahim Boubacar Keits

236. National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) appointed Saji Cherian.

237. Prime Minister of Italy---------------------------Enrico Letta.
238. Governor of Jammu and Kashmir for the second term-------------N N Vohra.
239. Coach of the Junior Hockey Men’s National Team------------------Gregg Clark.
240. Vice Chairman of Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) for fiscal 2013-14----------P. Devadas
241. President of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI)--------------Raninder Singh.
242. Chairman Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA)-----------Amarnath Sengupta
243. Secretary in Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)------------------Amarjit Singh
244. Director (Personnel) of Electronics Corporation of India Ltd-------------V.S.B. Babu
245. Next Ambassador/Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations in New York--------------Asoke Kumar Mukerji
246. Head of the Securities and Exchange Commission---------------------Mary Jo White.
247. Managing Director of Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL)---------------------Narendra Kumar
248. Chairman of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd-----------------------------------G V Prasad
249. Governor of the Bank of Japan------------------------------------------Haruhiko Kuroda
250. John Ashe elected as the President of UN General Assembly:
251. Elbegdorj Tsakhia new Mongolia President
252. New Bangladesh President: Abdul Hamid
253. New King of Netherlands: Willem-Alexander
254. Nicolas Maduro – New President of Venezuela
255. Horacio Cartes – New President of Paraguay’s
256. XI Jinping – New President of China (succeeded Hu Jintao).
257. Rafael Correa – Ecuador’s President
258. Indian-American Nisha Biswal to be US assistant secretary of state for South Asia
259. "Regional Director" for WHO South-East Asia Region---------------------Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh
260. Hun Sen is the Prime Minister of Cambodia and leader of the Cambodian People's Party
261. Syria's Opposition National Council elected Ahmad Toameh as its Interim Prime Minister
262. President of Mali --------------------------- Ibrahim Boubacar Keits
263. New United states ambassador to the united nations -------------- Samantha Power
264. Head of Atomic Energy organisation in Iran----------------Ali Akbar Salehi
265. Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Mr. Filippo Grandi
266. iGate names former Infosys board member Ashok Vemuri as CEO
267. Cabinet Secretary--------------------- Shri Ajit Kumar Seth .
268. Union home secretary---------------- Anil Goswami .

269. Secretary of Defense---------------- R K Mathur .

270. Foreign Secretary------------------- Sujatha Singh.

271. Union finance secretary ------------- Rajiv Takru .

272. Economic Affairs Secretary---------- Arvind Mayaram .

273. Information and broadcasting (I&B) secretary--------Bimal Julka .
274. Former Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal has been appointed as member of Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
275. Germany's Thomas Bach -------------- IOC president
276. Bal Sekhar, the new secretary general of Lok Sabha

277. Cabinet ministers:

• Oscar Fernandes gets roads and highways ministry
• Girija Vyas becomes housing and urban development and poverty alleviation minister
• Sis Ram Ola becomes labour and employment minister
• K S Rao gets textiles ministry

278. Ministers of state:

• EMS Natchiyappan takes oath as MoS commerce and industry
• J D Seelam becomes MoS finance
• Manikrao Gavit gets social justice and empowerment
• Santosh Chowdhury gets health & family welfare

today's gk

Tarla Dalal dead

Noted food writer and celebrity chef Tarla Dalal passed away here on Wednesday after a brief illness. She was 77.

Ms. Dalal has been on the culinary landscape for the last 40 years and was a famous face on televised cookery shows. She wrote more than 100 cook-books and was awarded the Padma Shri in 2007.

ISRO raises Mars spacecraft’s orbit

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully boosted the orbit of its Mars spacecraft by firing the 440 Newton engine aboard it at 1.17 a.m. on Thursday. The engine sizzled with life for seven minutes from 1.17 a.m. and this raised the Mars orbiter’s apogee from 23,566 km to 28,825 km from the earth and its perigee from 247 km to 252 km. ISRO scientists sent the command for firing the engine from the state-of-the-art ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) situated in Bangalore.

This is the first of the six tricky orbit-raising manoeuvres that ISRO will perform as its Mars spacecraft circumambulate the earth during the next 25 days. The second orbit-raising manoeuvre will take place Friday early morning. The sixth and last orbit-raising operation will be done on December 1 when the Mars orbiter will be shot out of its earth-orbit into a sun-centric orbit. From then on, the spacecraft will coast around the sun for 300 days before the ISRO tries to capture it in the Martian orbit on September 24, 2014.

The ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C25) on Tuesday put the Mars orbit into an earth-bound orbit with a perigee of 247 km and an apogee of 23,566 km.

K. Radhakrishnan, ISRO Chairman, told The Hindu on Thursday that the ISRO fired the liquid engine on board the Mars orbiter for seven minutes starting from 1.17 a.m. and this firing boosted the spacecraft apogee from 23,566 km to 28,825 km.

“At 2.15 a.m. tomorrow (Friday), we will fire the engine again for about 582 seconds, for almost ten minutes, and we will raise the apogee to about 40,000 km from the earth,” said Dr. Radhakrishan.

The ISRO had earlier calibrated the 440 Newton engine before starting to fire it on Thursday early morning.

Yogesh Malik Resigned as CEO of Uninor

Yogesh Malik resigned as the Chief Executive Officer of Uninor, Norwegian telecom giant Telenor’s India unit on 7 November 2013.

Sigve Brekke, Executive Vice President and Head of the Telenor Asia operations appointed as the acting CEO of Uninor.

About Yogesh Malik
• He has almost 20 years of extensive telecom experience.
• He was previously held executive positions at Telenor Group headquarter in Norway,
• He was served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Telenor Group companies in Ukraine and Bangladesh.
• His extensive career in the telecom industry also includes experience from AT&T, Tata and Ericsson in India and Sweden and for the international mobile operator TIW (today known as Vodafone) in Canada, China, Brazil and the Czech Republic.
• He is responsible for developing a highly efficient operating model that has made Uninor a preferred choice for customers in the hypercompetitive Indian market.

Gross Direct Tax Collections during April-October in 2013-14 up by 11.58 Percent

Paralympic Powerlifter Ali Jawad won Gold at the Asian Open Championships

Ishwar Das Rohani, the Speaker of Madhya Pradesh Assembly, died

Assamese Music Director Sher Choudhury Passed away

Imomali Rakhmon Reelected as the President of Tajikistan

Today's GK (6-11-2013)

Axis Bank ties up with FICO

Axis Bank has tied up with FICO to use FICO Falcon Fraud Manager solution to enable detection and prevention of fraud in its consumer banking portfolio, including credit and debit cards, ATM transactions and the merchant acquiring business. This follows hacking of debit card data from ATMs in Mumbai by fraudsters and this data being used to make duplicate cards to withdraw cash abroad. — Special Correspondent

New GTA chief to be elected today

The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) will elect a new Chief Executive of the regional autonomous body on Wednesday.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), which has control over all the 45 seats of the GTA, had elected party’s assistant general-secretary Benoy Tamang as the Chief Executive after party president Bimal Gurung resigned from the post in the last week of July to devote his time to the Gorkhaland movement

Gandhiji’s charkha sold for £1,10,000 at London auction

A portable teak charkha belonging to Mahatma Gandhi that he used while in Yerwada prison, and in 1935 gifted to the American Free Methodist missionary Reverend Dr. Floyd A. Puffer (1888-1965) was auctioned for £1,10,00 at the Mullocks auction house here on Tuesday. Its guide price was £60,000-£80,000.

The charkha was part of a cache of several lots of Gandhiji-related memorabilia including a draft Will that he signed on September 23, 1926, which was auctioned for £20,000, several postcards, photographs, posters, stamps, books on Gandhi, and even a bust of his.

According to the catalogue, the origins and operation of the Yerwada charkha are described in American monthly Popular Science in December 1031 as “a portable spinning wheel that folds into a bundle about the size of a portable typewriter and has a handle for carrying. When unfolded for use, it is operated by turning a small crank, which runs the two wheels and spindle of the device.”

After he was released from prison in 1933, he presented the charkha to Rev Puffer and his wife who worked as missionaries close to Wardha. He visited them several times from 1934 onwards, and established his own ashram in Wardha in 1936.

Dawn to dusk

For a man who consistently declares himself an agnostic, Khushwant Singh dwells a lot on prayers. Meet him and the conversation often turns to life after life — or whether there is such a thing. And then, not long back, he came out with “The Freethinker’s Prayer Book” (Aleph Book Company - 2012), and a few years earlier he had translated “Japji - The Immortal Prayer-Chant” (Abhinav Publications). But then, if a declared aspirant of God is a searcher, so too is one who turns away from the beaten path. The best searcher is often one who won’t swallow ‘received wisdom’ wholesale. And with Singh, it is always a pleasure to hear or read his lucid explanations that refer — without pomposity — to his vast reading and researches that have taken him through cultures and religious scriptures from near and far. His latest offering to the thinking world is another book of translated prayers, “The Japji and The Rehras: The Morning and Evening Prayers of the Sikhs”, published by Rupa.

These are translations into lyrical English of the Japji, the prayer (never sung but recited) composed by Guru Nanak and found at the beginning of the Guru Granth Sahib — the holy book of Sikhism — and of the Rehras, which is a compilation of verses by five of the ten Gurus of Sikhism.

In his introduction, Singh explains his position in a nutshell — “I am not a religious man, but I call myself a Sikh and am proud to be one.” — and puts Sikhism in its historical and philosophical context, as influenced by Hinduism and Islam, the two major religions of Punjab. But if it was the bigotry that over time polluted all organised religions and pushed Singh into his own search, it is easy to see how the essence of Sikhism appeals to him, as teaching “all that I value: tolerance, simplicity, equality, service to the community and to all humanity.” He also points out that if it has, like other creeds, “been misinterpreted by bigoted and cynical people” that is the fault of such people, not of the faith.

Singh quotes a verse that praises Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, as “the King of Fakirs” who is a guru to the Hindu and a pir to the Muslim. It was not just Guru Nanak who had this quality. The Granth Sahib, or Adi Granth, rather than being a series of injunctions or strictures, offers hymns composed by the Gurus as well as other saint poets such as Baba Farid, Meera and Kabir, and this eclectic quality is attractive.

Eclectic too is Khushwant Singh’s oeuvre. From significant works of history like “A History of the Sikhs” to thinly veiled memoirs and his own obituary, from path breaking novels like “Train to Pakistan”, to, well, the less literary stuff, the nonagenarian author and columnist continues to put his views across cogently and with blissful indifference to what anyone may think of him.

SBI raises lending rates by 0.20 per cent

Home, auto and consumer loans are expected to become costlier with the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) raising its lending rates by 0.20 per cent with effect from Thursday.

The bank has revised the base rate or the minimum lending rate to 10 per cent from 9.80 per cent, SBI said in a statement.

At the same time, the Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR) was also raised by 0.20 per cent from 14.55 per cent to 14.75 per cent.

Upward revision in the lending rate by SBI may prompt others public and private sector banks to follow suit.

The decision came a day after HDFC Bank raised the base rate by 0.20 per cent to 10 per cent.

Earlier this month, SBI raised fixed deposit rate by 0.2 per cent on select maturity.

Today's GK(5-11-2013)

India’s orbiter begins long voyage to Mars

India’s prestigious mission to send a spacecraft to Mars got off to a flying start on Tuesday when the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C-25) lifted off at 2.38 p.m. from the spaceport at Sriharikota and put the Mars Orbiter into a precise elliptical orbit around the earth.

The precision achieved was such that the spacecraft went into an orbit with the perigee of 246.9 km and an apogee of 23,560 km against the predicted perigee of 250 km and an apogee of 23,500 km.

This signalled the long voyage of the Mars Orbiter for the next 300 days before the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) would attempt to put the spacecraft into mars orbit on September 24, 2014.

K. Radhakrishnan, ISRO chairman, said the PSLV in its 25th launch, has precisely put the Mars Orbiter into an elliptical orbit around the earth. He called it a new and complex mission, which has been so far successfully achieved.

PTI adds

Dr. Radhakrishnan said: “I am extremely happy to announce PSLV-C25 placed Mars orbiter space craft very precisely in elliptical orbit around earth.

“This is 25th PSLV flight. Now it will be a complex mission to take the Mars orbiter from earth’s orbit to Mars orbit.

“I salute the ISRO team.”

India on Tuesday embarked on its maiden Mars odyssey with its polar rocket carrying Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) successfully lifting off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here in its first-ever inter-planetary expedition in a bid to join a select band of nations.

The textbook lift-off of ISRO’s workhorse launch vehicle PSLV C25 was witnessed among others by Minister of State in PMO, V. Narayanasamy, U.S. Ambassador to India Nancy Powell, Mr. Radhakrishnan and a host of other officials.

The XL version of PSLV C 25 had carried Chandrayaan 1, the country’s maiden moon mission, in 2008.

After going around Earth for 20-25 days in an elliptical orbit (perigee of 250 km and apogee of 23,500 km), the Rs. 450-crore orbiter would begin a nine-month long voyage to Mars around 12.42 am on December 1.

It is expected to reach the red planet’s orbit by September 24, 2014 and go around in an elliptical orbit (periapsis of 366 km and apo-apsis of 80,000 km).

The Mars mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is aimed at establishing the country’s capability to reach the red planet and focus on looking for the presence of methane, an indicator of life in Mars.

The Mars Orbiter has five scientific instruments — Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA), Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS).

European Space Agency (ESA) of the European consortium, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US and Roscosmos of Russia are the three agencies which have successfully sent their missions to the Red Planet.

Vettel makes it seven-in-a-row

Sebastian Vettel eased to victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday for his seventh successive victory and 11th of the season. The 26-year-old German led home a Red Bull 1-2 for the 15th time in Formula One, giving the team its 100th podium finish, as Australian Mark Webber’s second-place finish saw him crossing 1,000 points in his Formula One career, which comes to an end at the end of the season.

German Nico Rosberg was third for Mercedes.

Vettel's win drew him level with Michael Schumacher’s mark of seven successive wins (in 2004), and should he win the last two races of the season he will equal the overall record of nine held by Alberto Ascari (1952-53).

Bharti Airtel signed an Agreement with the Warid Group

Bharti Airtel on 5 November 2013 entered into an agreement with the Warid Group to acquire its Congo operations with the objective of strengthening its stronghold in the African market. The acquisition will make Airtel the largest mobile operator in the Republic of Congo with around 2.6 million customers. At present, Airtel is the second largest operator in that country with over 1.6 million customers, while Warid is the third largest with around one million customers.

This is the second acquisition by Airtel in African continent. It had acquired Warid’s Uganda operations earlier in 2013. The agreement will bring together the strengths of Airtel and Warid in Congo Brazzaville. It will benefit customers in the form of affordable tariffs, superior 2G/ 3G network and affordable voice and data services.

Airtel had over 66 million customers at the end of September 2013 in the region with its presence across 17 African countries. Bharti Airtel is ranked fourth largest mobile operator at world level with operation in 20 countries and had over 280 million customers at the end of September 2013

Microsoft Developed New Sign Language Translator-KINECT

US software company Microsoft recently developed a new cost-effective sign language translator that converts signs into spoken and written language - and vice versa.

In collaboration with researchers in China, Microsoft created the Kinect Sign Language Translator, a prototype system that understands the gestures of sign language and converts them to spoken and written languageand vice versa.

The translator uses a computer and a Kinect camera that recognises signing gestures, then gives a spoken and written translation of languages for people who can hear.

The system captures a conversation both sides: the deaf person is shown signing, with a written and spoken translation being rendered in real-time, while the system takes the hearing person's spoken words and turns them into accurate, understandable signs. The system takes a person's spoken words and translate them into accurate signs carried out by an on-screen avatar.

The Kinect's sensors read a user's body position and movements and, with the help of a computer, translate them into commands. The project was collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing Union University, and Microsoft Research Asia

New Delhi to host 12th Edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2014

The 12th edition of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas will be held in New Delhi from 7th to 9th of January 2014. This was announced by Vayalar Ravi, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs on 5 Novemeber 2013 in New Delhi.

The theme of the convention is -Engaging Diaspora - Connecting across Generations- with a special focus on the younger generation.

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the convention and President Pranab Mukherjee will give his valedictory address. Pravasi Bharatiya Samman will also be bestowed on 15 persons during the convention.

The PBD Convention provides a unique platform for overseas Indians to interact among themselves and with the Government of India and the Governments of various Indian States. It is a forum where the Government of India showcases investment opportunities in India and its potential in various sectors. The 11th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) was held at Kochi, Kerala from 7th to 9th of January 2013.

About Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9th January every year to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India. January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi the greatest Pravasi, returned to India from South Africa, led India’s freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever.

PBD conventions are being held every year since 2003. These conventions provide a platform to the overseas Indian community to engage with the government and people of the land of their ancestors for mutually beneficial activities. These conventions are also very useful in networking among the overseas Indian community residing in various parts of the world and enable them to share their experiences in various fields.

During the event, individuals of exceptional merit are honoured with the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award to appreciate their role in India’s growth. The event also provides a forum for discussing key issues concerning the Indian Diaspora.

Abraham K Techi Appointed International Weightlifting Referee

Indian Weightlifting Federation Joint Secretary Abraham K Techi on 4 November 2013 appointed as an international Weightlifting referee. Budapest–based International Weightlifting Federation issued the honour to Abraham, making him the fourth international referee from North East India.

Yuki Bhambri won the Traralgon title

Yuki Bhambri on 4 November 2013 won the ATP men’s singles title of Traralgon event in Australia. He defeated Bradely Klahn of America in the summit clash that was hit by rain. This is the second win of his career.

Yuki, the 21 years old Indian defeated higher ranking Bradely by 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the finals in a match played on two days due to rain. This is the third straight win of Yuki over a higher ranked opponent in this tournament. The 277 ranked Yuki earlier defeated, Tatsuma of Japan ranked 191 and the James Duckworth of Australia ranked 147 in the tournament to reach the finals.

IICT, Hyderabad received samples for detection of Chemical Weapons from OPCW

The Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, recently received over 50 samples for detection of chemical weapons from the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The samples in the form of soil, water and organic solvents were sent twice a year since 2008 when IICT attained the status of designated laboratory for off-site analysis of weapons.

OPCW had been sending to IICT for analysis only blank samples collected from different parts of the world. Six samples which were coded to hide the identity of the substance and the originating country were sent by courier every six months as part of continuous evaluation of the lab. The report of the institute should be cent per cent accurate to be eligible to get three ‘A’ grades in succession and pass the proficiency test every year.

The institute has already got the proficiency certificate for this year (2013), but it was yet to enter into a technical agreement with OPCW to get authentic on-site samples.It had the technique to identify chemicals at parts per million (PPM) levels. A dedicated centre for analysis of chemical toxins was set up at the institute to attend to OPCW.